Expanding your telecommuter workforce can have a major impact on IT infrastructure, security/compliance, and company workflows. Progent has two decades of experience helping businesses of all sizes to plan, deploy, manage, tune, and debug IT networks that support work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Chandler organization to pick the right tools and follow best practices in building and maintaining a secure virtual ecosystem for telecommuters that promotes teamwork and delivers maximum value. Progent can provide services ranging from as-needed expertise for getting you over occasional technical roadblocks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you carry out business-critical initiatives.

Progent's consultants can help Chandler, Arizona companies to with any facet of building a high-functioning telecommuting ecosystem by delivering network infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX expertise, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud integration, Help Desk augmentation, security monitoring, data protection solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for Telecommuters
Configuring the physical and software infrastructure needed to support a remote workforce can be especially challenging if you must accommodate a mix of worker-owned equipment such as PCs and laptops, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different manufacturers and with a mix of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's background providing online support for both legacy as well as current IT products in virtual office solutions enables you to make efficient use of your existing infrastructure and offers ready access to expertise for implement necessary updates. Support services available from Progent to assist your company to implement a productive work-at-home ecosystem include:

  • Virtual Private Network (VPN) connectivity makes it possible to establish a secure connection for authenticated at-home employees to access IT resources situated at your company datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can assist you to configure and maintain VPN access between your at-home workforce and your key network resources by providing remote VPN configuration consulting. For businesses with Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall consultants can help your remote workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect client software for safe VPN tunneling for a wide range of devices including Microsoft Windows, macOS, Apple iOS, Linux, and Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms enable an at-home worker to see and interact with a data center computer's desktop. This technology gives network managers significant control over the digital ecosystem of at-home employees and offers remote users a familiar experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
  • Routers attach at-home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, home wireless connectivity, and firewalls. Progent offers expert online support for deploying home routers from a variety of vendors. See router configuration support from Cisco-certified experts.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, typically shared by families and guests, are frequently utilized by at-home employees to connect to their Internet router for work. This can create throughput as well as cybersecurity problems. Progent can assist businesses to mitigate these issues by delivering expertise like Cisco Aironet integration expertise, Cisco Meraki WiFi deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi AP integration help.
  • Internet access solutions impact the performance and availability of connections between telecommuters and the company data center. Business-critical processes might demand redundant Internet access in case the primary connection fails. Progent offers guidance for picking service providers, choosing sensible bandwidth and data volume offerings, and integrating high-availability Internet access. Refer to Internet access integration services.

VoIP Solutions for At-Home Workers
Expanding the company PBX environment to include remote users is critical to supporting a productive work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-centric VoIP products are used by small and mid-size businesses to support telecommuters. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's modern or older platforms for IP voice solutions. Progent can help organizations of all sizes to design or maintain a remote IP voice service that delivers the versatility, convenience and security needed for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants offer high-level support to assist businesses optimize their current Cisco IP voice environments to support an expanding remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) delivers high-end IP telephony features to devices like IP phones, media processing platforms, VoIP gateways, and mixed media applications deployed throughout the network. Unified Communications Manager manages other mixed media services like messaging, video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager support, refer to CUCM consulting services.
  • Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can help your company to maintain your current CallManager environment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. For details about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other older VoIP products, see CallManager expertise.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide connectivity with PSTN networks and with clients working beyond the corporate firewall such as at-home workers. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products as well as for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration expertise.
  • Additional VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to update your WAN infrastructure to work with these solutions and deliver on-demand integration and debugging expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A wide range of video conferencing products from major technology companies enable virtual meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both local users and teleworkers. Many organizations use a mix of conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent can assist you to maintain your existing conferencing environment and enhance the engagement of your remote workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications product that supports real-time presence, IM, audio and video calling and conferencing as well as the transparent integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to configure and manage Skype for Business clients to support your at-home employees. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business consulting experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone app for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current versions of FaceTime support as many as 32 concurrent users for voice/video calls. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for most computing devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing specific content or screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session recording, plus revision and playback for training. For details about Progent's support services for Webex as well as for additional video conferencing solutions from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams provides a hub for conversations, contacts, and content with capabilities such as voice/video calling, persistent chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and for other Microsoft 365 apps, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Other Voice/Video Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and troubleshooting expertise for these conferencing platforms and assist your business to tune your network architecture to run them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Software for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office suites, providing a powerful environment of productivity apps that deliver a consistent user interface for exchanging information across a corporate network and on a broad selection of endpoint computers. Progent has provided remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their original publication and can assist your company to configure these critical collaboration products to optimize the productivity of your at-home workers.

Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office suite, providing a rich ecosystem of applications that deliver a consistent user experience for sharing information across multiple sites and on a wide variety of endpoint devices. Progent has provided remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can help at-home workers set up and use these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize productivity.

Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium Integration Experts for TelecommutersMicrosoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration. Developed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can enable chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and app sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly called Azure Active Directory) for supporting its full range of capabilities. To learn more about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit solution design and deployment consulting for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint Integration Consultants for Remote WorkersSharePoint utilizes web entities to enable collaboration and information delivery by offering policy-based delivery of content, workflow, and utilities for searching through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint permits you to build protected web portals that allows remote workers to view and edit consolidated business intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts. For information about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, visit SharePoint integration and development expertise.

Exchange Deployment Consultants for Remote WorkersExchange and Exchange Online offer secure collaboration features including public folders, shared mailboxes, and shared calendars and contacts. Progent's Microsoft certified Exchange experts can show you how to activate and utilize these features for your at-home workers. To find out about Progent's Exchange expertise, see integration consulting for Exchange.

Onedrive Integration Consultants for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud-based storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can save files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can retrieve them safely through a browser. Provided with Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables home employees to co-author documents. Edits created offline are automatically synced when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, go to Onedrive configuration experts.

Public Cloud Integration for Remote Workers
Progent offers advanced online support for helping businesses to create, manage and repair cohesive network models that include internal data centers, at-home workers, branches, plus cloud resources. Progent offers expertise for all modes of public cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help telecommuters fix problems with cloud access, authentication, and security.

Azure Integration for Remote WorkersMicrosoft Azure is a leading family of public cloud software and services that allows you to utilize infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications hosted on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure features over one hundred services services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can help you to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure Active Directory, and plan backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to create secure connections to Azure services for telecommuters by setting up and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. To find out about Progent's expertise for Azure, go to Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365 Integration for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of client productivity applications and cloud-based services available by subscription. Office applications and services are provided in a selection of bundles designed for users ranging from students and households to large corporations. Progent offers fast and easy remote access to experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can assist your business to evaluate the various subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your teleworkers to achieve maximum business value. For information about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 consulting support.

Exchange Online Integration for TelecommutersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most popular cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online offers the advantages of reduced costs for physical infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and other benefits associated with public clouds. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to run transparently with local Exchange environments, allowing customers to create hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's certified Exchange consultants are available for occasional help to get you through challenging IT bottlenecks and also offer comprehensive project management services to make sure your remote workers have convenient and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Exchange Online integration and support expertise.

Amazon AWS Integration for Remote WorkersAmazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud computing market and is the industry's leading source of cloud services. Progent can provide rapid and affordable online access to cloud integration experts who can help your business to plan, deploy, maintain, and debug hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local resources and with other public clouds like Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help you to build a high-availability network model so your employees have a consistent computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, at home, or on the move. For information about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS consulting expertise.

Google Cloud Integration Services for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud Platform is a leading collection of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can help your organization to expand your existing IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA consultants can help you make your mission-critical apps cloud ready so your teleworkers can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent can help your organization to deploy VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage system with GCP Storage services, and simplify identity management for teleworkers with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent can also help your business to utilize GCP's unified management tools to administer and track your Google Cloud environment. For information, visit Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration services.

Help Desk Call Center Support for Remote Workers
A fast, company-wide transition to a telecommuter workforce, which might be activated by a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery/business continuity process, can overwhelm even a high-performing internal Support Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services make it possible for organizations of any size to outsource or expand their Help Desk by using Progent's online Technical Response Center services.

  • Progent's Standard Call Desk services utilize Progent's nationwide team of remote IT support experts along with world-class ticketing and follow-up technology to provide an economical, advanced Call Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that addresses all facets of online Level 1 PC technical support from help requests to ticket creation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal enables from-home workers to track or edit the status of their current trouble tickets, enter information, and upload screen captures or attachments. Technical support services are provided at a significant price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support charges, and Progent makes available optional rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 IT experts to resolve advanced issues. For more information, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size businesses.
  • Progent's Call Center Supplemental Service enables your business to supplement your current Help Desk organization by sharing responsibilities for Help Desk support seamlessly between your regular IT support personnel and Progent's nationwide roster of desktop support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Call Center service uses a co-sourcing support solution based on the leading professional services automation platform for managing help requests and ticketing, assigning ownership, tracking progress, and generating management reports. For details about how Progent's Call Desk Supplementation Services can enable your business to provide world-class IT support to your from-home workers, visit Progent's Help Desk augmentation Services.

Cybersecurity for At-Home Workers
Work-from-Home employees commonly use their personal computers and usually work in an unsecured physical area. This increases their vulnerability to cyber attacks and requires judicious deployment of firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote endpoint monitoring, extensive end-user training, and the creation of security policies built on best practices. Progent's veteran team of cybersecurity solutions consultants can assist you to design, deploy and maintain a compliant cybersecurity solution that protects critical information assets in networks that include remote workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to build a network that can be securely accessed by local users as well as by teleworkers, mobile users, vendors, clients, and other stakeholders. Modern firewall appliances allow you to configure and manage appropriate permissions to various classes of users and to scale your IT network and modify your security as your business evolves and as network attacks grow more sophisticated. Progent supports both current and legacy firewall appliances from all major vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall configuration expertise, see firewall configuration and support expertise.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring Services for At-Home WorkersOnline Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the disparate devices used by telecommuters and either block or identify and respond to the latest threats such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint software agent is installed on every secured endpoint device, watching all activity and utilizing advanced AI technology from SentinelOne to detect new attacks before they can spread. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the impacted endpoint device from the network to quarantine the threat. Because the ProSight ASM software agent is self-contained, endpoint devices remain protected even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight ASM, go to remote endpoint monitoring for an at-home workforce.

Two-factor Authentication Services for At-Home WorkersProgent's Duo authentication Service Plans utilize Cisco's Duo technology to protect against password theft by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables one-tap identity verification on Apple iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, whenever you sign into a protected application and enter your password you are requested to confirm your identity via a unit that only you possess and that uses a different network channel. A broad selection of out-of-band devices can be used for this added form of authentication such as an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You may register several validation devices. For details about Duo identity validation services, see Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for teleworkers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can assess the exposure of your information system to all classes of outside and local security attacks for an environment that includes an at-home workforce. Progent can deploy remote, automated cybersecurity analysis software for quickly and economically uncovering a wide variety of security weaknesses that can be found via the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment experts, which can be provided by network security experts with top certifications such as CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your business to evaluate your operations and policies and review your network architecture to enable you to implement the highest level of security for your at-home workers.

NodeZero Pentetration Testing for Work-from-Home EnpointsHorizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a cutting-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports autonomous testing of your at-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you identify, rank, fix, and confirm security vulnerabilities before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to use NodeZero to perform thorough pentests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure so you can evaluate your current security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also help you to strengthen your network security and can assist you to design and deploy a unified cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and provides optimum cyber defense for on-premises, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To learn additional details about Progent's threat assessment solutions powered by on NodeZero's penetration test products, visit Consulting Support for NodeZero's PEN Test Platform.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To view or download a white paper about critical areas to concentrate on for protecting a network that supports telecommuters, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Teleworkers
The field of Data Protection covers saving and restoring critical information so as to avoid data loss and minimize recovery time in case of storage problems due to hardware breakdowns, software glitches, user mistakes, malware, or other causes. Reliable data protection strategies can be especially challenging to architect and manage in hybrid environments that incorporate private data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Restore solutions for telecommuters must address diverse kinds of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide fast remote help from experts knowledgeable about a broad array of products for protection Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops as well as notebooks, iPads and handhelds. Popular backup/restore solutions supported by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up resources spread across a hybrid network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud-based storage and includes fine-grained restore and unified management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans often anticipate circumstances that require a quick changeover to a work-at-home environment. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity planning specialists can assist your business to develop, document and test a DR/BC strategy that includes the logistics of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has rebranded and reshuffled its endpoint management platforms under the name Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises endpoints. Endpoint Manager offers a unified environment for protecting critical data by controlling onsite, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and securing off-premises devices and software. Remote endpoint devices can be user owned or business owned. Network admins managing the enrolled endpoint computers of teleworkers can use Intune to deploy and authenticate applications on devices, push updates and certificates, configure rules for permission to access information and networks, manage passwords, create VPN connections, determine how telecommuters share data, establish threat defense, ensure security compliance, and erase sensitive information from lost, stolen or deactivated devices. Microsoft Intune runs with Apple iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X computers. For information about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can help you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the devices of your at-home workers, visit Intune remote device management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced centralized Mobile Device Management (MDM) product that helps network administrators to keep offsite endpoint devices up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint administration along with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for identity control, application management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site product through a perpetual license. Top capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air provisioning of new notebooks, immediate onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and analytics, email encryption, and integration with Microsoft applications and cloud services. To learn about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE remote device management expertise.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To contact Progent about building and maintaining an efficient telecommuter solution for your Chandler, Arizona organization, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.